Leadership Lessons from the Classroom

The late great jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and bandleader, Maynard Ferguson, was once asked why he devoted so much time to teaching young music students. His answer (I paraphrase) echoes in my mind to this day: “If you can teach, why wouldn’t you?” You got the impression from Maynard that teaching for him was a natural extension of living, breathing and playing the trumpet. The same goes for the best leaders in our organization. Effective leaders teach.

A fair number of my friends and colleagues think I’m nuts with my teaching load. In addition to coaching and speaking, I spend a significant number of evenings in classrooms with working professionals of all ages and vocations. I teach management and leadership courses, however, the content is almost subtext for the work of life that goes on in the classroom setting.

Four Leadership Lessons from Teaching

Here in no particular order are the lessons I gain (and am constantly reminded of) in this work that has become so important for me:

1. Every individual staring back at you on day one is on a personal mission. Most people are there to improve themselves and their situation. More than a few are striving to fulfill a dream.

It is humbling to be invited to help someone on their journey. Leaders and teachers are temporary guides and caretakers. Act responsibly—dreams are fragile.

2. Everyone has a story. As I come to know the students during the course, I am reminded that life is complicated and often not fair. The resilience of many who navigate multiple jobs, single parenthood (or just parenthood), long commutes, physical challenges and many other travails just to make it to class, is impressive and inspirational.

Empathy is a powerful attribute for leaders and teachers. Neither role should ever be merely transactional. A successful classroom situation, much like successful leadership, often means letting go and letting people explore and struggle a bit as part of the process of learning.

3. Too much structure and rigidity stifle learning in both organizational and classroom settings. Many talk about encouraging experimentation and failure on the journey to success, but few practice it.

Real teaching isn’t about sharing what you know it’s about teaching people how to think for themselves. Long after the text or lecture content fade from memory the process of critical thinking remains present and active. Leading isn’t about barking orders; it’s about helping people under pressure strive to make good decisions.

4. We need to quit preaching and start helping people understand tools and approaches to assess and analyze and solve problems for themselves.

Too often we revel in the details without sharing the big picture. Effective leaders and teachers help their stakeholders understand the big picture, and they consistently connect the details back to this view. The strategy only succeeds if it is understood by those charged with carrying it out. Learning only occurs when people connect the dots and see the whole picture.

The bottom-line: More senior leaders should spend time in classroom settings.  It’s humbling to recognize the weight of your responsibility to help others. And it is darned hard work to find ways help people learn to think. Remember, effective leaders teach. Get this right in both the classroom and the organization, and you will be amazed by the outcomes.

Art Petty is a coach and consultant working with executives and management teams to unlock business and human potential. He writes the Leadership Caffeine blog.